Summer 2023 – A TF2 Update

So that Team Fortress 2 update is finally here. It’s nothing super special, but it’s here. They didn’t even really give the update a proper name. It’s just Summer 2023.

First off, we got a lot of maps. We actually got 14 new maps, which is the most maps from any update so far. I can see why they added so many though, because, well, they are easy to add. Sure, a lot of work and time goes into creating these maps, but for Valve, they are super easy to implement and add to the game. I’d actually guess that maps are the easiest thing to add in general.

Among these maps though, we actually got a whole new game mode! Well, I call it new, it’s now official. There are now official Versus Saxton Hale maps. It’s an official game mode. Which I never thought would get added.

We also, of course, received a new crate of cosmetics. These cosmetics are all pretty nice, but as usual, you only get them by opening cosmetic cases. The new cosmetic cases also contain a TON of unusual effects. There are 12 new hat unusuals and 8 new unusual effects for taunts. The taunts are alright, nothing special, but the hats and cosmetics are pretty good. I do like the new unusual effects as well, and currently, any unusual hat unboxed in this event will have one of the new unusual effects.

I was going to get a case and open it, but I forgot that every new cosmetic case now has its own key that you have to buy separately.

The weird thing though is how few community fixes were included in this update. One of the bigger appeals of this update was supposed to be a bunch of fixes made by the community, because the community has to do everything these days. There’s even a community fixes section of the TF2 steam workshop. But with this update, we only got three. I suppose we’ll probably see more in future updates/hotfixes/whatever, but it seems a shame to only have three.

That’s not to say that there weren’t bug fixes, because there were. CP_Steel, one of the earliest community maps, received a bunch of updates, as did CP_Mossrock. There were some general fixes as well. But I’m surprised that they went with just two old maps, CP_Steel in particular. We did get a bunch of bug fixes in some followup updates, but that’s about it.

What I find really weir though is how there’s no real announcement for the Summer 2023 update. Normally updates would come with a fancy name and some new visuals to do with it, but the Summer 2023 update doesn’t even appear on the front page of the TF2 website! In fact, the front page of TF2.com is the announcement that we’d be getting this update in the first place. It’s the call to attention to people in the Steam Workshop. There’s no announcement of the Summer 2023 update on the home page, it’s tucked away on the Updates tab. And it’s not even at the top of the updates page because there were two small updates released just after the main update.

Really, Valve have just thrown together the bare bones of an actual update. But we’re all so pleased about it that we’ll happily take it.

Plus, there’s a cool seal that everyone likes. No matter what, TF2 is always a goldmine for meme material.